Pricing ABC's - Pricing Your House to Sell - Determing the Price

In the end, it is the market that will determine what your house should sell for because the correct value is the one it does sell for.

Basically houses are priced at what comparable house sold for plus a bit more to leave room to negotiate and to test the market. It doesn't matter how much you need to get for your house, you will only get what the market says it is worth.

Determining the right price is really a two-step process:

   First, you have to find comparable houses; and

   Second, set your price based on those comparables.

What is a comparable?

   A house in the: same area; of the

      same age; of the

      same style; of the

      same size; with the

      same number of bedrooms; with the

      same number of baths; with the

      same features (great room, pool, etc.).

Great if you can find it and it has sold within the last six months. More likely than not, however, allowances in the form of additions and subtractions will have to be made in order to accommodate to the inevitable differences between your house and the others.

TIP: The best comp's are those houses on the market TODAY!

How much of an allowance?

Again, the guesstimate comes into play. Go back to your information regarding house sales in your area. If your main comparable is the same house in the same condition, but that one is on a busy street where yours is on a quiet cul-de-sac, yours has more value. How much more? This is a judgment call. Even the best agents have to take a guess sometimes and so will you. Weigh the pluses and minuses, then simply take that difference and either add or subtract it from your main comparable's price.

Be objective.

Obviously you fell in love with your house once upon a time, but those things you loved, say the cute little carport off to the side, may not appeal to a prospective buyer who simply must have a garage. If your house has a swimming pool, that may be a plus to you, but a buyer may be put off because of the maintenance or because he or she may see the pool as a potential hazard. (If your house does, in fact, have a pool, it is a good idea to have a copy of your maintenance and expense bills, such as extra gas or electricity.)

This is the second in an ongoing series on how to price your house to sell for the most money, in the shortest possible time-no matter what the market conditions are. Look for the next installment: Finding Comparables

see Pricing ABC's - Pricing Your House to Sell for the first of this series on pricing.